A to Z of Gemstones - C is for Charoite

Charoite is an unusual and rare mineral named after the Chara River in Siberia, Russia. It was discovered by the Russians in the 1940s but was not made known to the Western world until 1978. Charoite is formed from alteration of limestones by the close presence of an alkali-rich nephline syenite intrusion.

Charoite's colour ranges from lilac to violet to purple but its the unusual patterns that are found in Charoite that are its distinctive signature. Described as unnaturally beautiful Charoite has such a unique and attractive swirling violet colour that specimens of it are sometimes thought to be synthetic rather than natural.

Charoite is mined exclusively near in the Chara River area of Siberia, Russia, a part of Russia known for its forbidden climate and terrain.

Here is one of my pieces featuring the gorgeous Charoite, my Sterling Flowers and Charoite Chainmaille Bracelet;

Here are some more examples of gorgeous Charoite jewellery as found on Etsy:

Charoite Leather Pendant by Baikal Store

Copper Necklace with Charoite by Creativity Jewellery

Charoite Ring by Unicorn Trading

Front Page Treasury

'BrisStyle Black and Wite' by shazzabeth

Love Photograph Hea... HeyHarriet $6.00	Black and white geo... LaughLand $20.00	Black and White Pin... liddleapples $42.00	Pocket Mirror - Bla... designsofthehe... $5.00
Classic white straw... RockRibbons $50.00	Bow Tie - Black and... marcelloneckwe... $40.30	Black and white flo... shelleyberelli $9.50	Fabric Covered Butt... Chelleybeandes... $8.00
1 Fat Qtr x Bunny S... voodoorabbit $9.00	Vintage Style Cameo... sailormouthsoa... $6.00	Hand printed beetle... BeetleCreative $6.00	Retro Rockabilly Ta... kittybooboodes... $8.00
At The Gate - Photo... designbyfee $18.00	Resin Stacked Butto... kelliechristie $40.00	Ornament - Fairy Wr... ReneesArtwork $16.00	bird brooch badge p... edwardandlilly $15.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio. 

It was so exciting to get home from work today and to realise that a treasury that I had created for my local Etsy street team BrisStyle had been featured on the front page of Etsy. Above is the whole treasury, and below is a screen grab of it on the front page, and thank goodness the FP doesn't include treasury titles given the typo that I only saw when putting together this blog post.

 

A to Z of Gemstones - B is for Bronzite

Bronzite is an unusual gemstone that wouldn't be considered a gem at all if not for two other related stones called Hypersthene and Enstatite. All three of these are members of an igneous group of rocks called orthopyroxenes. Like its family members Bronzite is a stone that is constructed of different rocks including peridot and serpentine. All have key elements of iron as does Bronzite itself.

A reasonably hard stone Bronzite is generally a mixture of the colours of gold, green, brown, and black, although the most popular varieties of the gem are bronze brown as the stone's name indicates. The best rough of the gem also has the cats eye effect called chatoyancy. The stone often also refracts golden metallic sparkles and streaks from within.

Today Bronzite can be found in areas of the USA, Austria, England, South Africa, India, Labrador, Norway and Greenland.

Ancient Romans used to grind Bronzite into powder form to use as protection against mental illness and confusion and as an effective treatment to strengthen the nerves.

Here are some gorgeous examples of Bronzite Jewellery from some members of the JET Team:

Wire Wrapped Bronzite Necklace - Soleil by Willow Creek Jewellery

Rich Bronzite Multi-Strand Necklace by Duchess Designs

Bronzite Stack and Sterling Silver Earrings by CSerpent

Creating Music

Craft is one form of expressing creativity - however, there are of course many different ways in which to be creative, of which one of the major is in creating music.

As any of you who have followed my blog for a while will know I play the violin, and for several years I was involved in playing with a couple of local amateur/community orchestras, first in England and then here in Brisbane.

In the UK I played for several years with the Slough Philharmonic Orchestra. They enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of the best musical societies in the country, not least because the society included a choir as well as an orchestra. I loved my time playing with the orchestra and learned many new orchestral pieces with them including what is now one of my all time classical pieces - the Gadfly by Shostakovitch. The society usually put on five concerts a year, three orchestral and two with the choir. If you live in the UK anywhere near to Slough then I can well recommend them. The only reason I left playing with the Slough Philharmonic was because I moved to Australia.

For the first few years of living in Australia, I joined and played with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, although at that time it was known as the Brisbane Sinfonia. Although a much newer orchestra than my UK orchestra the Brisbane Symphony was gradually gaining a very good reputation for the standard of their concerts. Again, I really loved playing with them and can certainly recommend paying one of their concerts a visit. Unfortunately I just found it too difficult to continue with my commitment to them at the time I left having got a job in the wrong direction from Brisbane from where I lived.

From playing in both orchestra one thing I will never forget is the thrill of playing at the concerts being surrounded by a large symphonic sound and knowing that I was a part of it.

My Fur Babies

I decided to have a week off from a Sunday theme and instead show you some pics of my gorgeous fur babies - my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Amber, the oldest is 10 years old, and then I have two puppies, Sasha is 10 months old and Bella is 4 months old. Finally a picture which I just couldn't resist of Bella giving Amber a kiss.

V Style Earring Giveaway - Week 2

Pictured above are the earrings chosen by my Week 1 Winner - and now to Week 2. A big CONGRATULATIONS to the winner of Week 2 of my V Style Earring Giveaway

M Frame

A pair of my earrings will soon be winging their way to you.

For everyone else, don't worry - there are still FIVE more chances to win, and don't forget, if you blog about my giveaway, or post details about it on your Facebook page, and remember to let me know about it in the Giveaway comments, you will get an extra entry into the drawer.

For those of you who have not entered yet full details of the Giveaway can be found in my Big V Style Earring Giveaway Post.

(number of winner selected by Random.org)

A to Z of Gemstones - A is for Amazonite

Its time to start a new A to Z series, and this time I am going to feature gemstones, one per letter, lets see how many letters I manage to complete this time!

Amazonite is a beautiful blue/green gemstone named after the Amazon River in Brazil, although no deposits have actually been found there. In terms of properties Amazonite is a gemstone variety of green microcline, a feldspar mineral. Often cut as a cabochon, a good quality Amazonite can be mistaken for Jade. Amazonite is a fairly soft stone that can be scratched by other stones so good care should always be taken of it.

The colour of Amazonite can vary from green, to yellow-green, to blue-green. The colour distribution is generally irregular and some stones can exhibit fine white streaks.

The most important deposits of Amazonite are found in Colorado, however Amazonite can also be found in Brazil, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Romantics claim that the beautiful greens of the Amazon jungle are reflected in the stone that bears its name. A Brazilian legend tells that the Amazons, a legendary group of female warriors, gave green stones to the men who visited them. Amazonite is said to calm ones emotions and soothe nerves, and to enhance creativity and the ability to express oneself.

Here is one of my pieces made with Amazonite, my Amazonite Shapes Necklace:

and here is some more beautiful Amazonite jewellery from some embers of the Jet Team:

Amazonite Necklace with Brass Flower by Fully Hooked

Opal and Amazonite Sterling Silver Anklet by Beads Me

Amazonite and Sterling Silver Earrings by CSerpent

 Amazonite Sterling Silver Earrings by Aubepine

Amazonite Harlequin Facet Nugget Necklace by Dashery